| 释义 |
ox-bow, oxbow|ˈɒksbəʊ|
[f. ox + bow n.1]
1. The bow-shaped piece of wood which forms a collar for a yoked ox and has its upper ends fastened to the yoke; = bow n.1 5.
1368–9Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 575 In hercis et Oxbouys emptis..xixd. ob. 1530Palsgr. 250/2 Oxebowe that gothe about his necke, collier de beuf. 1573Tusser Husb. xvii. (1878) 36 With ox bowes and oxyokes, and other things mo, For oxteeme and horseteeme, in plough for to go. 1669,1721[see bow n.1 5]. 1833S. Smith Life & Writings J. Downing 106 A farmer ort to stick to his ox bows and goard sticks. 1846R. B. Sage Scenes Rocky Mts. iii. 26 An extra quantity of ox bows, axle-trees..in case of accidents or breakage. 1876Whitby Gloss., Owce-bow, an ox-collar; the wooden one for the neck when the animal is yoked. 1881Rep. Indian Affairs (U.S.) 398 Ox-bows, 2-inch..doz. 51.
2. U.S.
a. A semicircular bend in a river; hence, the land included within this. Also attrib., as ox-bow bend.
1797J. A. Graham Pres. St. Vermont 148 In this town [Newbury, Vt.] are those extensive intervales known by the name of the great Ox-Bow, which form the River assumes in its course at this place. 1845Barber & Howe Hist. Coll. N. York State 201 Oxbow, on the Oxbow of the Oswegatchie river. 1858O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. x, The Connecticut..wantons in huge luxurious oxbows about the fair Northampton meadows. 1875Temple & Sheldon Hist. Northfield, Mass. 12 The high plain here trends to the west, and turns the course of the Connecticut so that it makes an ox-bow bend.
b. More fully ox-bow lake. A curved lake left in a former meander of an adjacent river after the river has changed its course and cut through the narrow neck of the meander.
1898W. M. Davis Physical Geogr. ix. 245 An abandoned meander is occupied by nearly stagnant water... In time it becomes an ox-bow lake. 1902[see Mortlake 2]. 1937[see cut-off n. 2]. 1944A. Holmes Princ. Physical Geol. x. 165 If a flood occurs when only a narrow neck of lands is left between adjoining loops, the momentum of the increased flow is likely to carry the stream across the neck... A deserted channel is left, forming an ox-bow lake which soon degenerates into a swamp. 1957L. Eiseley Immense Journey 22 Fishes of this type who get themselves immured in oxygenless ponds or in cut-off oxbows buried in winter drifts. 1961Listener 19 Oct. 614/1 In his lifetime the river flowed through his ox-bow. 1962[see Mortlake 2].
3. Comb. (in sense 1) ox-bow key, a key for fastening the end of an ox-bow; ox-bow stirrup, a stirrup resembling an ox-bow in shape; also ellipt.
1882Rep. Indian Affairs (U.S.) 480 Ox-bow keys, 2 inch. a1918J. Bratt Trails of Yesterday (1921) xiii. 52 In the morning I was set to work..making ox-bow keys and fitting bows to yokes.
1907S. E. White Arizona Nights i. i. 5 Uncle Jim sat placidly on his white horse, his thin knees bent to the ox-bow stirrups, smoking. 1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §915/5 Ox bows,..wide old-fashioned wooden stirrups. |